


and the edge of your affection broke my skin

by fizzyblogic (phizzle)



Category: McFly
Genre: F/M, Polyamory, WIP Amnesty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-29
Updated: 2011-04-29
Packaged: 2017-11-14 16:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/517296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phizzle/pseuds/fizzyblogic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The start of something awesome.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and the edge of your affection broke my skin

Tom is thirteen when he starts planning his old age with Giovanna. They'll get a nice cottage by the sea, maybe in Cornwall, and he'll garden and she'll sit on a deck chair reading a book. He'll kiss her hair as he goes past, and she'll smile at him, warm and beautiful in the sun.

It takes him another two years to work up the courage to ask her out, and even then, he can't quite do it. He spends an entire fortnight trying to force himself to say _something_ , anything about the cinema or — _anything_ , but every time he sees her it feels like his throat has closed up and his mouth has been replaced with sandpaper.

They get paired up in improv, as usual, and this time Tom is put with Giovanna. He does his best not to blush or stare at her eyelashes, but he only half-hears the theme. “Um,” he says, as she turns to him, “I didn’t quite — what was the theme?”

“A lover’s tiff, Mr Fletcher,” comes the voice of possibly his least favourite teacher. Tom nods at him.

“Thanks, sir.” He swallows and looks back at Giovanna. She’s very obviously trying not to laugh.

“Well? Miss Falcone, Mr Fletcher, I expect you to begin.” The teacher turns his attention to another pair, and Tom breathes out.

“Don’t worry about him,” Giovanna says, reassuringly. Her mouth is still quirking up slightly, but it’s distracting more than anything, so Tom makes himself look away.

“Thanks,” he says to his shoes. “So we should, um.”

“Yes.” Giovanna straightens up, and so does he, and then she says, her expression going hard, “What you saw, Jerry, it doesn’t — it doesn’t mean anything.”

“Marcy, you were kissing another man! What am I supposed to think?” Tom relaxes into it, calling up an anger from somewhere.

“But it’s not — oh Jerry, I don’t love him. Not like I love you.”

Tom starts pacing, a few steps either side of her. “How am I supposed to believe that? You kissed another man, you _cheated_ on me, and now you just — expect me to roll over and forgive you?”

She moves, halting his steps by grabbing at his arms. “Jerry, won’t you listen to me? There’s no one else but you, it was just a — a silly fling, _nothing_ to what we have.”

She’s so close, and Tom almost breaks character, but he centres himself again. For a split second, he can hear everyone else, arguments all through the room at various volumes. “What we have, Marcy?” He tries to make his voice hard again, to be harsh, but it comes out soft. He clears his throat. “What do we have?”

“Our _marriage_ , Jerry.” She looks into his eyes, right into them, and Tom forgets what they’re doing. It’s like there’s magnets in them both, and he falls forwards, touching his lips gently to hers.

He kisses her, softly, and after a second she kisses back. Then the room crashes in around them again and they break apart and Tom swallows. “Er,” he says. “Um.” He clears his throat again. “I mean, um, no! That’s not — you can’t just — say that we’re married and make it all better.” But the momentum is gone, he’s just saying words. There’s no feeling behind them.

“Oh, Jerry, do you think we could possibly make it work?” Giovanna’s smiling at him, the way he’s always wanted her to, and he can feel his heart beating suddenly.

A loud clap startles them out of it. Standing in front of the class, the teacher has drawn his hands together. “Right,” he says, “now switch partners with the person next to you, and this time, the theme is siblings.”

When the lesson’s over, Tom waits just outside the door for Giovanna. “Um,” he says, when she appears, “can I — I was just wondering if you’d — um.”

“Cinema?” she smiles at him. “Friday night? Seven o’clock? Why, Tom, I’d love to.”

He feels his face getting hot. “Um. Good, good, I’ll - I’ll see you then.”

She kisses his cheek, still smiling, and walks away. He doesn’t know whether to laugh or break out into a celebratory dance. Since he sees his friends making their way over, wolf-whistling, he settles for just cracking his face in half with a grin.

He tells her, after maths on Thursday, which cinema they should meet up at, and she agrees. He can’t eat any tea on Friday evening, stomach in knots, and Carrie sits on his bed as he’s picking out a shirt, swinging her legs.

“The blue one,” she says, and he’s such a ball of nerves her very _existence_ is irritating.

“Trying to get dressed here,” he glares at her, and she shrugs and leaves, grabbing a book of his on the way out. “And yes, you can borrow that,” he calls after her. She waves over her shoulder. “Stupid little annoying baby sister,” he mutters to his buttons, “why can’t she mind her own sodding business?” The buttons say nothing. “Right,” he rolls his eyes, “I’m talking to clothes. Obviously, I am far too mad to be good enough for her.”

He sits heavily down on his bed, shirt hanging off mostly unbuttoned, and has a long moment of pure and utter despair. A beautiful girl, interested in him? What was he _thinking_? He’s just some geeky wannabe and she’s too incredible, too amazing, _far_ too gorgeous to ever want to be with him. She wouldn’t stand him up, she’s too nice for that, but then she’s obviously just going on the date to be nice to him in the first place —

He flops onto his back and wishes he knew her phone number, so he could tell her it’s okay, there’s no need to go on a pity date, she should go out with someone who’s actually attractive, witty, sophisticated, mature, everything that he isn’t. He watches a future stretch out where she gets married to some posh prat with a Lexus and a Rolex and a leather wallet stuffed with cash, and Tom has to try his best not to break down at the wedding. He’s at the point where he catches the bouquet and sobs into it when Carrie knocks on the door.

“Mum says you’re going to be late!"

“Go away,” he calls. “I’m not going.”

“ _What_?” The door opens and Carrie stands there, hands on hips, drawn to her full height (of three and a half feet), and glares. “You’re not even dressed!”

“How could I ever have thought she’d be interested in a stupid — er, boy — like me?” he moaned, eyes turning back to the ceiling.

“ _Oh_ no.” He feels his arm being yanked, and looks up to see her dragging him into a sitting position. “She wants to go out with you, I have no idea why, boys are stupid and you smell, but she does. So get dressed. _Now_.”

The despair passes, and Tom blinks. “You’re right. Sorry.” He pauses. "I don't smell, though. You‘re wrong about that."

She rolls her eyes. "You always smell. Poohead."

“Poohead yourself,” he throws back at her. She sticks her tongue out.

 

 

\----------------------------------------  
This is as far as I got, but I had plans! Very ... vague plans! So, okay, Tom was going to go out with Gi for a while, she's awesome, yay, and then he meets Danny and has ~FEELINGS~ and Gi is like oh huh okay then, are you bi? and Tom is like I might be yeah um how do you feel about that? and Gi thinks about it and says it's pretty great I'd say :D? and Tom is like \o/

Anyhoo, ~FEELINGS~ continue, Tom and Danny are good mates, awesome working partnership yadda yadda. (You see what I mean about vague, I'm sure.) Then they're in the hotel room and one of the beds is broken (IT IS IN THE SONG OKAY I PROMISE I'M NOT ALWAYS THAT CLICHÉD) so they spoon and there are more ~FEELINGS~ and also ~ERECTIONS~ and then Tom and Gi have many, many conversations about this concept called polyamory that they've heard mention of, and they read up on it and talk some more and decide that it's something they could try. Then Tom makes a move on Danny, who is all like :D :D :D and then HAPPY V FOREVER.

Basically.


End file.
